Featuring leading experts from across the country: A Symposium on Stress and the changes to Compensation regulation as it happens across Canada. You can see pictures from this important learning exercise that explored the options for a measured response in Nova Scotia.

The Office of the Worker Counsellor has a mandate to educate workers and workers’ organizations on the workers’ compensation system and occupational health and safety.

The Office of the Worker Counsellor workshops are open to all workers of Nova Scotia. Workers currently covered under the Workers’ Compensation Act of Nova Scotia will gain the most benefit from the workshops we offer.

We develop a spring and fall workshop schedule each year. Please check our calendar to see if there is a workshop in your area. If you do not find the workshop you are interested in, or if you would like the Office of the Worker Counsellor to customize one of our workshops for your union or organization please contact us.

The Office of the Worker Counsellor has a fee structure for each workshop. However, if you are an injured worker on disability you may participate in our workshops free of charge. Community organizations with limited funding can contact the Office of the Worker Counsellor to discuss a reduced fee for workshops.

The Office of the Worker Counsellor has an Education Co-ordinator and 3 teams of facilitators delivering the following workshops:

Navigating Your Way: A Workers Guide to Workers’ Compensation

The workers’ compensation system is a complex one that uses legal and medical terms. This means that sometimes workers have difficulty getting the benefits they deserve. This workshop will help you navigate your way through the system.

This workshop is about advocating for health and safety in the workplace so that our members, including those facing literacy and language challenges, have access to the information they need to work safely. The workshop will draw on your knowledge and experience of health and safety and the Workers’ Compensation system, as well as introduce new information and materials.

Participants in this workshop will increase their understanding of the Workers’ Compensation System in Nova Scotia and how to access it. They will learn:

about the history of Workers’ Compensation in Canada;

when an injury is eligible for compensation;

how to file a claim;

about worker and employer obligations;

how to calculate earnings; and

the organizational structure of the Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia.

This session uses a sample case to explore the role of union activists and labour representatives in helping workers appeal WCB decisions at the WCAT level.

Session 3: Appeal to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal.

In this final session our sample case and injured worker help participants understand the procedures of appeals to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeals and discuss the role of union activists and labour representatives in this process.

Return to Work Programs: A Worker’s Guide

This workshop is dedicated to all injured workers. During the 3-hour workshop you will follow an example case for a typical injured worker we have named “Bruce.” Bruce tries to return to work with an injury, and Bruce has some questions about Return to Work Programs. Like Bruce; you may have some questions too.

You will learn:

about employer and worker obligations under the Workers’ Compensation Act of Nova Scotia;

the principles of the Early and Safe Return to Work program;

the logic behind the program;

the features of the program; and

what workers need to know about the program.

Booking Information

Registration fee: $25
Length of workshop: 3 hours
Costs covered by the Office of the Worker Counsellor:· Rental of space for the workshop
· Nutrition break
· All workshop materials

Stress @ Work

Under Review.

Resources

We have many resources for education. Information pamphlets for offices, workplaces, schools and conferences. We can provide materials, organize an education session, lead discussions or host a conference.
If it concerns helping injured workers, their families or representatives, if it concerns preventing injuries, providing best practices or discussions of the history theory or legislation concerning workplace injuries or the injured, we are ready to help.

Overseen by the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour / CLC to provide assistance to both Union and non-union workers in Nova Scotia.